Three Tales (opera)
Encyclopedia
Three Tales is a contemporary video-opera
in three acts, composed by American composer Steve Reich
in 2002. Beryl Korot
, the wife of the composer, created the visuals which accompany the music written for ensemble and pre-recorded audio. Its world premiere was at the Vienna Festival
, on May 12, 2002. Following this, the BBC
commissioned a version for television to be broadcast in September 2002.
The musical narrative of Three Tales follows "speech melodies" of pre-recorded interviews, and in many ways resembles Reich's works The Cave (1990-1993), City Life (1995) and Different Trains
(1988). The libretto
of Three Tales can be found on the website of the composer (see bottom of page).
Three Tales is a response to nearly a hundred years of modern technology, concerning the explosion of the Hindenburg
, nuclear testings on Bikini Atoll
, and the cloning
of Dolly the sheep
(drawing connections between genetic engineering
and artificial intelligence). The different stories are told from various perspectives, with speech culled from interviews with eye-witnesses, audiovisual documentary material of both the Hindenburg and Bikini tragedies, and experts in computer science
(e.g. Marvin Minsky
and Kevin Warwick
), artificial intelligence
(Rodney Brooks
), Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
, and genetic engineering
(Richard Dawkins
).
Act I – Hindenburg
Act II – Bikini
Act III – Dolly
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
in three acts, composed by American composer Steve Reich
Steve Reich
Stephen Michael "Steve" Reich is an American composer who together with La Monte Young, Terry Riley, and Philip Glass is a pioneering composer of minimal music...
in 2002. Beryl Korot
Beryl Korot
-Biography:Beryl Korot has pioneered the field of video art since the early 1970s. She was co-editor of Radical Software , the first publication to discuss the possibilities of the new video medium, and Video Art with Ira Schneider...
, the wife of the composer, created the visuals which accompany the music written for ensemble and pre-recorded audio. Its world premiere was at the Vienna Festival
Vienna Festival
The Wiener Festwochen is a cultural festival in Vienna that takes place every year for five or six weeks in May and June.The Wiener Festwochen was established in 1951, when Vienna was still occupied by the four Allies...
, on May 12, 2002. Following this, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
commissioned a version for television to be broadcast in September 2002.
The musical narrative of Three Tales follows "speech melodies" of pre-recorded interviews, and in many ways resembles Reich's works The Cave (1990-1993), City Life (1995) and Different Trains
Different Trains
Different Trains is a three-movement piece for string quartet and tape written by Steve Reich in 1988. It won a Grammy Award in 1990 for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.The work's three movements have the following titles:...
(1988). The libretto
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
of Three Tales can be found on the website of the composer (see bottom of page).
Three Tales is a response to nearly a hundred years of modern technology, concerning the explosion of the Hindenburg
Hindenburg disaster
The Hindenburg disaster took place on Thursday, May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is located adjacent to the borough of Lakehurst, New Jersey...
, nuclear testings on Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
, and the cloning
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
of Dolly the sheep
Dolly the Sheep
Dolly was a female domestic sheep, and the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in Scotland...
(drawing connections between genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
and artificial intelligence). The different stories are told from various perspectives, with speech culled from interviews with eye-witnesses, audiovisual documentary material of both the Hindenburg and Bikini tragedies, and experts in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
(e.g. Marvin Minsky
Marvin Minsky
Marvin Lee Minsky is an American cognitive scientist in the field of artificial intelligence , co-founder of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AI laboratory, and author of several texts on AI and philosophy.-Biography:...
and Kevin Warwick
Kevin Warwick
Kevin Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom...
), artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
(Rodney Brooks
Rodney Brooks
Rodney Allen Brooks is the former Panasonic professor of robotics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 1986 he has authored a series of highly influential papers which have inaugurated a fundamental shift in artificial intelligence research...
), Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
Adin Steinsaltz
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz or Adin Even Yisrael is a teacher, philosopher, social critic, and spiritual mentor, who has been hailed by Time magazine as a "once-in-a-millennium scholar". He has devoted his life to making the Talmud accessible to all Jews...
, and genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
(Richard Dawkins
Richard Dawkins
Clinton Richard Dawkins, FRS, FRSL , known as Richard Dawkins, is a British ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author...
).
Synopsis
The piece consists of three acts, each divided into different sections:Act I – Hindenburg
- It could not have been a technical matter – Nibelung Zeppelin – A very impressive thing to see – I couldn't understand It
Act II – Bikini
- In the air I – The atoll I – On the ships I – In the air II – The atoll II – On the ships II – In the air III – The atoll III - On the ships III - Coda
Act III – Dolly
- Cloning - Dolly - Human body machine - Darwin - Interlude - Robots/Cyborgs/Immortality
Recordings
- Steve Reich Ensemble. Three Tales. Rec. June 2002. Judith Sherman, 2003 (audio)
- Three Tales. Dir. Nick Mangano. Perf. Steve Reich Ensemble, Synergy Vocals. Videocassette. Brooklyn Academy of Music, 2002 (visual).